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Over the weekend the Syria crisis calmed as the Russians and Americans came to agreement on the rules of engagement in regard to removing the chemical weapons from Syria. Of course the West is skeptical, however, the aversion of war is a positive one for all involved.

Asia overnight was up marginally on the news.

Europe has moved higher by a point on the news and the fact that Lawrence Summers, the leading replacement for Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has dropped out of the race, leaving the door open for Janet Yellen. Summers is a proclaimed “hawk” calling for the end of QE and a faster line to increasing interest rates. Yellen on the other hand is a so called “dove” promoting a more gradual change to monetary policy. US futures are trending higher on this news up about 1.25%. The US dollar on the other hand is falling on he news.

Canadian futures are stronger by about a third of a point.

Gold is up 4 bucks to 1312 on the weaker dollar, oil is off on the Syrian news 1.45 to 104.51 and the loonie is stronger by half a cent to 97.15. The US and Canadian 10 year bonds are rallying on the news this morning with yields falling to 2.79% and 2.69% respectively.

After many delays over the last year, Bombardier is today finally going to test fly the new C-Series jet. The much anticipated flight should pave the way, if successful, to a strong order book for the mid-distance commuter jet.

Tomorrow and Wednesday the Fed meets to discuss monetary policy with the big decision being to taper now or wait until they meet again in November. The street is 50/50 on the decision, however it is my view that the tapering decision has already been factored into both the debt and equity markets as it is inevitable to occur.

We are also watching with great interest the debt ceiling deadline that is coming at the end of the month. The ceiling must be raised again and while it will be done the issue will be can they (the US Congress) get it done efficiently and expediently? We shall see.